This publication presents results from the September quarter 2006 Survey of Tourist Accommodation (STA) for the following categories of establishments:

licensed hotels and resorts with facilities and 5 or more rooms

motels, private hotels and guest houses with facilities and 5 or more rooms

serviced apartments with 5 or more units

caravan parks with 40 or more powered sites

holiday flats, units and houses of letting entities with 15 or more rooms or units

visitor hostels with 25 or more bed spaces.

INQUIRIES

For further information about these and related statistics, contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070.

SUMMARY COMMENTARY

SEASONALLY ADJUSTED AND TREND

Hotels, motels and serviced apartments with 15 or more rooms

Key figures, Seasonally adjusted and trend - Australia

Sep Qtr 05

Jun Qtr 06

Sep Qtr 06

Seasonally Adjusted

Takings from accommodation ('000)

1 570 059

1 684 072

1 679 882

Room occupancy rate (%)

62.8

64.6

63.5

Trend

Takings from accommodation ('000)

1 563 080

1 666 336

1 695 816

Room occupancy rate (%)

63.0

64.1

64.2

Accommodation takings

The trend estimate of the total accommodation takings for hotels, motels and serviced apartments with 15 or more rooms continued to increase. In September quarter 2006, it increased by 1.7% to $1,695.8 million compared with June quarter 2006.

The seasonally adjusted estimate of the total accommodation takings fell by 0.2% to $1,679.9 million from June quarter 2006 to September quarter 2006.

ACCOMMODATION TAKINGS, Seasonally adjusted and trend - Australia

Room occupancy rate

The trend estimate of the room occupancy rate for hotels, motels and serviced apartments with 15 or more rooms for the September quarter 2006 (64.2%) increased by 0.1 percentage points over the June quarter 2006.

The seasonally adjusted estimate of the room occupancy rate decreased by 1.1 percentage points to 63.5% from June quarter 2006 to September quarter 2006.

ROOM OCCUPANCY RATE(a), Seasonally adjusted and trend - Australia

Seasonally adjusted and trend data are not yet available for hotels, motels and serviced apartments with 5 to 14 rooms or 5 or more rooms.

ORIGINAL

Hotels, motels and serviced apartments

The original estimates are impacted by seasonal variations and irregular or non-seasonal influences. Comparisons between quarters should be made with caution.

Key figures, Original - Australia

June Qtr 2006

September Qtr 2006

Hotels, motels and serviced apartments with 5 to 14 rooms

Rooms (no.)

18 701

18 609

Room nights occupied ('000)

739.7

758.3

Room occupancy rate (%)

43.9

44.4

Takings from accommodation ($'000)

64 684

69 022

Average takings per room night occupied ($)

87.5

91.0

Hotels, motels and serviced apartments with 15 or more rooms

Rooms (no.)

213 035

213 768

Room nights occupied ('000)

11 748.7

12 829.8

Room occupancy rate (%)

60.9

65.3

Takings from accommodation ($'000)

1 526 511

1 740 492

Average takings per room night occupied ($)

129.9

135.7

Hotels, motels and serviced apartments with 5 or more rooms

Rooms (no.)

231 736

232 377

Room nights occupied ('000)

12 488.3

13 588.1

Room occupancy rate (%)

59.5

63.7

Takings from accommodation ($'000)

1 591 196

1 809 514

Average takings per room night occupied ($)

127.4

133.2

Accommodation takings

In September quarter 2006, accommodation takings for hotels, motels and serviced apartments with 5 or more rooms were $1,809.5 million. The average takings per room night occupied for these establishments were $133.17.

Accommodation takings for hotels, motels and serviced apartments with 15 or more rooms for September quarter were $1,740.5 million, at an average of $135.66 per room night occupied. For establishments with 5 to 14 rooms, accommodation takings were $69.0 million, at an average of $91.02 per room night occupied.

The contributions to accommodation takings in September quarter 2006 for hotels, motels and serviced apartments with 5 or more rooms were highest in New South Wales ($574.6 million) and Queensland ($524.9 million).

Room occupancy rate

The room occupancy rate for hotels, motels and serviced apartments with 5 or more rooms was 63.7% in September quarter 2006.

Room occupancy rate(a), Original - Australia

For hotels, motels and serviced apartments with 15 or more rooms, the room occupancy rate was 65.3%, while for 5 to 14 room hotels, motels and serviced apartments, the room occupancy rate was 44.4%.

Room nights occupied

Total room nights occupied were 13.6 million in September quarter 2006 for hotels, motels and serviced apartments with 5 or more rooms. Room nights occupied were highest in both New South Wales and Queensland (4.1 million).

For hotels, motels and serviced apartments with 15 or more rooms, room nights occupied were 12.8 million in September quarter 2006, while for establishments with 5 to 14 rooms, room nights occupied were 0.8 million.

Average length of stay

The average length of stay in September quarter 2006 for hotels, motels and serviced apartments with 15 or more rooms was 2.2 days. For establishments with 5 to 14 rooms, the average length of stay for September quarter was 1.8 days.

Queensland (2.7 days) reported the longest average length of stay for hotels, motels and serviced apartments with 15 or more rooms, followed by Western Australia and the ACT (2.3 days). The shortest average length of stay was in South Australia and Tasmania (1.9 days).

Star grading

In September quarter 2006, the room occupancy rate for five-star hotels, motels and serviced apartments with 5 or more rooms was 75.9% compared with 36.6% for one-star. For hotels, motels and serviced apartments with 15 or more rooms, the room occupancy rate was 76.2% for five-star establishments compared with 40.7% for one-star.

For establishments with 5 to 14 rooms, three-star (48.1%) and four-star (46.8%) establishments had the highest room occupancy rates, compared with one-star establishments at 28.0%.

ROOM OCCUPANCY RATE, Star grading - September Qtr 2006

Caravan parks, holiday flats, units and houses, and visitor hostels

Key figures, Australia

Jun Qtr 2006

Sep Qtr 2006

Caravan parks

Capacity (no.)

236 872

235 476

Site nights occupied ('000)

10 766

11 215

Site occupancy rate (%)

50.2

52.5

Takings from accommodation ($'000)

203 323

220 388

Holiday flats, units and houses

Capacity (no.)

28 281

27 941

Unit nights occupied ('000)

1 041

1 238

Unit occupancy rate (%)

40.5

48.4

Takings from accommodation ($'000)

108 196

140 168

Visitor hostels

Capacity (no.)

47 732

47 405

Guest nights occupied ('000)

1 928

2 032

Bed occupancy rate (%)

44.6

46.9

Takings from accommodation ($'000)

45 136

49 155

Accommodation takings

In September quarter 2006, accommodation takings for caravan parks were $220.4 million. New South Wales ($67.1 million) had the highest accommodation takings for all caravan parks for September quarter 2006.

Short-term caravan park accommodation takings were $182.0 million in September quarter 2006, while takings for long-term caravan parks were $38.4 million in that quarter.

Accommodation takings for holiday flats, units and houses were $140.2 million in September quarter 2006. For visitor hostels, accommodation takings were $49.2 million.

Occupancy rate

The site occupancy rate for all caravan parks in September quarter 2006 was 52.5%. Short-term caravan park site occupancy rates were 49.0%, while the rate for long-term caravan parks was 75.4% in September quarter 2006.

For holiday flats, units and houses, the unit occupancy rate was 48.4% in September quarter 2006.

The bed occupancy rate for visitor hostels in September quarter 2006 was 46.9%. The Northern Territory (64.6%), the ACT (59.4%) and Queensland (58.8%) had the highest bed occupancy rates for visitor hostels in September quarter 2006.